Open Facility Registry Service Project, Backgrounder
Fall, 2012
Introduction
Understanding the context in which services are delivered is central to the effective exchange of
information in health systems. Descriptive information about facilities, patients, care providers, and
specific services are typically represented in different ways by health system stakeholders. These
variances in the way information is defined, documented, stored, maintained and updated limit it’s
ability to be readily combined and reused across systems. As a result, health stakeholders are
challenged to access high quality information for service delivery, program planning and resource
monitoring.
Many national and regional health systems are looking for ways to create consistency in the way data in
descriptive domains, like facilities, are represented. However, broadly developing technological
approaches to resolve variability is not simple or intuitive. Health services and information management
practices are as unique to each region or country as the people who designed them. On the other hand,
it is desirable to use standard system infrastructure across regions, and even countries, to lower costs,
ease implementation, and improve interoperability. Effectively using standardized systems to
accomplish local processes requires a depth of local subject matter expertise to guide the technological
adaptation of standardized tools. Ideally, local health care experts work closely with technologists and
developers to guide the adaptation of existing applications to meet local clinical and business needs
while attaining standardized information and data exchange requirements.
What is a Registry?
Registries are centrally managed reference databases used to hold and maintain a comprehensive
master source of information on a subject. A registry might hold information about health care
providers, patients, locations where health services are offered, or the terms and standards used to
normalize health information for exchange. Registries contain reference information, such as service
types offered, address and contact information, and identifiers, or standardized codes. These can be
used to link information across other healthcare databases, enabling the integration and analysis of
information across the health system.
Data within a registry is updated regularly by authorized sources, ensuring accuracy and completeness.
In this way registries provide the ‘source-of-truth’ for reference data, supporting the coordinated
interaction of multiple systems. Registries store and present identifiers and information associated with
people, locations and services within the health system. They allow browsing, searching, matching,
automated queries, and manual searches for information. They manage update requests from multiple
sources (add, delete, update, merge, unmerge, unlink, link), and notifications to other systems to
change or update information.
What is a Facility Registry?
A facility registry is a centrally managed database containing comprehensive master reference
information about facilities, sites, or places important to health service delivery or administration. A
facility registry connects with networks of other information sources such as patient or health
professional/provider registries, situating a specific patient and specific provider in the context of a
specific health care facility. The type of data held in a facility registry includes may include:
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Open Facility Registry Service Project, Backgrounder

Facility/Organization
Name


Facility Type

Facility Site Names

Organizational or
Alternative Names
Fall, 2012
Services and Programs
offered

Locality and Region


Regional identifiers
Privileged Service
Providers / Privileges


GPS or other system
identifiers
Classification fields


Unique Identifiers
Addresses and contact
information
How do Registries fit into the Shared Health Record?
The Shared Health Record (SHR) is an electronic compilation of relevant clinical information about a
patient that can be accessed and shared by authorized health care providers. Such clinical information
may include patient demographics (age, weight, address), medical history, medication,
allergies, immunizations, laboratory test results, radiology images, and vital signs.
The SHR will also be able to provide de-identified information to assist planners to develop relevant
local, jurisdictional and country-wide health programs. Registries are sources of data that both
contribute information and enable meaningful linkages of information from different data sources.
Some users will have regular interaction with a registry, such as those who update the information
within, or others who draw data from the database for analysis. Most users will interact with the
registry as a behind-the-scenes tool that contributes information to their query.
The Facility Registry Expansion Development (FRED) Project
In 2012-13, the Open Facility Registry Service Project or FRED – “Facility Registry Expansion
Development” is designing and implementing a reference model for a universal facility registry service.
The facility registry service will interoperate with existing key e/mHealth tools in multiple countries to
improve the availability and quality of information about health service facilities. The reference
implementation will model the NHIS Health Information Exchange to provide a roadmap for the
implementation of full range of NHIS components. The project will accommodate unique national
requirements based on the guidance of local country leadership. It will use open-source, standardsbased tools, while allowing for continuous and evolutionary improvements to support monitoring,
evaluation, policy development and service improvement at local, jurisdictional and national levels.
FRED Needs Local Subject Matter Expertise
In order to be successful, FRED needs your help. Like a builder building a customized home for a family,
software developers look to local subject matter experts to describe their clinical, business and
information needs. Local health care managers can assist the FRED team to understand local needs, data
definitions, and business processes necessary for successful configuration, implementation and
adoption of facility registry services. We also are eager to collaborate with local software development
expertise in the countries. Our intention is to create an open source community where all interested
groups can contribute to the development of a vital shared resource that will enable a Shared Health
Record for all citizens.
To participate or learn more about the Open Facility Registry Service Project (FRED), please contact Kelly
Keisling of NetHope at kelly.keisling@nethope.org.
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